Therapy elements such as percutaneous leads and catheters can be implanted through the skin to facilitate the delivery of stimulation therapy or therapeutic agents, e.g., drugs, to patients. Stimulation or therapeutic agents may be used to treat a variety of symptoms or conditions. For example, stimulation or therapeutic agents may be used to treat chronic pain, movement disorders, pelvic floor disorders, Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injury, incontinence, gastroparesis, sexual dysfunction, and a wide variety of other medical conditions.
Percutaneous leads and catheters are often preferred over surgically implanted leads and catheters because percutaneously implanted leads and catheters are implanted in a less invasive manner. For example, in order to implant percutaneous leads for spinal cord stimulation (SCS) an incision is made to ease the introduction of an introducer, such as a percutaneous needle. The needle is inserted through the incision and positioned to access the epidural space. The lead is then inserted through the needle and positioned to a desired location, e.g., within the epidural space. After the lead has been properly positioned, the needle is withdrawn and the lead is connected to a stimulation device. The stimulation device is typically implanted just below the patient's skin.
For many applications, such as epidural implantation of a distal end of a lead for SCS, tunneling of the introducer through a significant amount of tissue is not required. Such applications instead involve use of a separate tunneling device to create a tunnel from an implant site of the stimulation device to the lead. The tunneling device may then be used to pull a proximal end of the lead to the implant site of stimulation device to connection to the stimulation device.